McCain’s VP Pick Acknowledged Marijuana Use Reformers Urge McCain to Respect States’ Rights

August 29, 2008

(Washington, D.C.) Noting that his just-announced vice presidential pick, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, has acknowledged having smoked marijuana, reform advocates today urged Sen. John McCain to respect states’ rights to set their own marijuana policies if he is elected president.

On Aug. 6, 2006, the Anchorage Daily News reported, “Palin said she has smoked marijuana — remember, it was legal under state law, she said, even if illegal under U.S. law — but says she didn’t like it and doesn’t smoke it now.

“‘I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.’” The paper quoted Palin as saying she opposed legalization of marijuana because of the “message” that would be sent to her children.

”Governor Palin is one of many millions of Americans who have used marijuana and gone on to live productive, wildly successful lives,” said Rob Kampia, executive director of the Marijuana Policy Project in Washington, D.C. “That she used marijuana is no big deal, but what is a big deal is that she thinks that the 100 million Americans who have used marijuana, including herself, belong in jail. That wouldn’t be good for her kids.

“Perhaps most importantly, Alaska is one of 12 states that allow the medical use of marijuana, and one in five Americans currently live in those states. The heavy hand of the federal government has trampled state authority and tried to interfere with the implementation of these state-level medical marijuana laws. The GOP ticket should embrace the time-honored Republican principle of local control by promising to end the federal government’s war on sensible medical marijuana laws in both red and blue states.”

Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington have medical marijuana laws. New Mexico’s is the latest, passed by the Legislature last year. Montana’s medical marijuana law appeared on the November 2004 ballot, receiving 62 percent of the vote, exceeding George W. Bush’s total of 59 percent.

With more than 25,000 members and 100,000 e-mail subscribers nationwide, the Marijuana Policy Project is the largest marijuana policy reform organization in the United States. MPP believes that the best way to minimize the harm associated with marijuana is to regulate marijuana in a manner similar to alcohol. For more information, please visit http://MarijuanaPolicy.org.